The
highly elusive Tompolo, who has been in hiding since declared wanted by
a court, may not be prepared to be seen any time soon as his boys
apparently mean to upset the country.
Tompolo
Informed sources from the Niger Delta, claim that former militant
commander, Government Ekpemupolo, better known as Tompolo, has ordered
his boys to blow up more pipelines and plunge the nation into oil crisis
if soldiers who have invaded Gbaramutu Kingdom in search of him, and
ransacking the whole creeks, are not withdrawn.
The High Court sitting in Lagos had in January sought for the
arrest over charges of corruption in excess of N30 Billion levelled
against him by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC.
Tompolo, fearing humiliating arrest and detention had defied the
court summons. The same court this week permitted the anti-graft agency
to confiscate his assets.
The blown pipelines in Warri and Port Harcourt were largely
attributed to him, though he has vehemently denied. Information at my
modest disposal shows that he knows something about the blown pipelines.
His boys did the job, but probably out of over zealousness, not on
instructions from him.
The issue of Tompolo has divided Niger Delta Militants. Ramsey
Mukoro, a prominent militant leader warning on Tompolo issue described
it as witch-hunt.
According to Mukoro, 'none of us is happy with what is
happening to Tompolo and other Ijaw people who served under Jonathan, it
is a tribal witch-hunt.' Iwere Peace Movement, a group advocating
for Ijaw Nation and through Mr. Merie Oritsejolomi and Johnbull Deghele
Omadeli warned against the Tompolo crisis.
According to the group “We see the EFCC charges against Tompolo
as a plot to arrest him and keep him in detention like the leader of
the Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB, Mr Nnamdi Kanu and the former
National Security Adviser, NSA, Sambo Dasuki and murder him in
detention”.
Another Niger Delta warlord, Mr Africanus Ukparasia also known as
General Africa has dismissed the Tompolo threat and given government the
assurances that there is nothing can do to destabilize the region, He
even offered to help the security agencies dismantle the Tompolo factor.
General Africa is still relevant in Niger Delta struggle.
Tompolo have been hiding in the creeks, though he has been sighted
at Asaba Government House recently, and sighted in few places in Warri
and Sapele, the military have not been able to capture him.
Tompolo knows what will happen if they catch him. He will most
probably be handcuffed, dumped into underground cells, forced to make
confessional statements and paraded like a criminal in the courts. The
case of Olisa Metuh, Nnamdi Kanu, Raymond Dokpesi and Sambo Dasuki is an
indication that Tompolo will be finished off.
From his hiding place Tompolo had issued fresh warning to Buhari few days ago. According to the outbursts from the warlord “You
can’t send soldiers to destroy a community, arrest young men and rape
women in the name of searching for Tompolo. If they claim that everybody
in the Ijaw land is a criminal, does it also mean that everybody in the
north is a member of Boko Haram?”
The dilemma is that if Tompolo surrenders, humiliation untold will
accompany him. Ibori may be better than him. If Tompolo fights back, the
nation will burn but Gbaramutu Kingdom will be another case of human
rights violations in the hands of security agencies. If Tompolo
capitulates, the Niger Delta struggle will be buried because this man
has enough influence to marshal out formidable forces more than the rest
of the groups.
Tompolo have vowed to fight back. From what I gathered, has put his
people on red alert in such a manner that if anything untoward happens
to him, hell will be let loose on oil installations in such a manner
that soldiers will be taken by surprise. To the best of my knowledge, he
is ready to wreck more havoc, and is not ready to be humiliated like
Nnamdi Kanu.
What options do Tompolo or correctly put what options do the Niger
Deltans have because the embattled militant is a major factor in the
Niger Delta struggle. Any humiliation of Tompolo is the humiliation of
Niger Delta. It will bring joy and confidence to the bruised ego of
Joint Military Patrols and Task Force, whose jobs of policing the creeks
were re-assigned to the militant. Soon it will be the turn of Asari
Dokubo, and other warlords until all Niger Delta militants are on the
run, and the zone becomes another conquered territory.
What will the Niger Deltans do to avoid this Tompolo- Buhari war of
the creeks and steer the nation out of this conflict. I will discuss it
sometime n the future, but before then I advise the Tompolo boys who
have sworn to defy Buhari and his soldiers, blow up oil facilities and
set Nigeria ablaze to suspend their plans and allow the elders work out a
settlement.
